Grunting Growler

A chat with Jehad Hatu, owner of Grunting Growler, a shop&bar specialising in craft beers, ciders and wines.

51 Old Dumbarton Road, (just behind the Kelvingrove Museum), Glasgow.

Grunting Growler is more than a beer shop. Originally born only as a takeaway, in these years it evolved to be a place where you can also enjoy your beer. A concept that is not new in Europe or in US but that is certainly new to Glasgow. I would say this model is just fantastic. A place where you can go, drink a beer or two and where you can also purchase something to bring at home with you.

The beginnings have been tough and I would add unfair at some points but as Jehad said on a spiritual and wise way "certain things that happen in your life do not happen by chance. You have been put in this position for a reason and that's all.

When life throws you lemons, you do lemonade. You don t throw away lemons because they are sour. You have to keep moving and innovate"

The beginnings

"I have dual citizenship. My mother is Scottish but I lived for a long time in Chicago.

One of the reasons why I moved too is because I wanted to complete the university in Scotland and take advantage of a better fee policy compared to the one that US universities have.

When I was in America I went to university but I just run out of money.

I made the mistake of going out of state for university. I am from Illinois originally and when you go out of your state of origin, as you never paid taxes in that state, you pay double the price. I was paying 13.000 dollars per semester and this did not include accommodation, food etc. I was so broke I could not afford to buy books. I had to go to the library every night to do my readings, my homework.

I was working 32 hours per week plus going to school full time: it was intense.

I run out of money and I decided to move to Glasgow. I had family here so this made the transition a bit easier. When I started applying for university, did more research on the SAAS and found out I was not eligible. Even if I was Scottish I was not classified as a Scottish resident which meant I did not have the chance to get any type of funding. So in my mind I said- fine, I just pay for my university fees by my pocket. But again I was unfortunately seen as an international student so the amount I had to pay was more or less the same amount I was paying in America. This did not go as I have planned.

So I started working at Butchershop Bar and Grill.and I loved it. Hospitality will always be my background.

Nine months after moving here I was diagnosed with cancer- it is life, I am very open about it- I have been treated for that for almost 2 years and while going for treatment I made up my mind that I was not going back to work for anybody, I was not going back to university, I wanted to set up my own business. So I literally set up my business from a bedside table, writing everything and that was how gruntling growler started.

I did not have a precise idea. I guess I knew that I liked beer. I was into craft beer and I knew a bit as I started drinking them when I was living in Indiana but by no means I was an expert, by no means I was a connoisseur, I was like a part-time craft beer drinker. Also, I knew nothing about the UK craft beer market whatsoever.

I guess I set up my business on a desire to invest in myself as nobody was taking a chance on me. Nobody was investing in me: not the university, no one in the professional 9to 5 as I had only a hospitality background. Putting myself first- putting myself in the frontline.

So what happened is that I noticed a gap in the market for this. I had no idea of what I was doing.

After I finished my treatment I wanted to figure out what was the best way to set up everything: research, suppliers, understand how to find a unit to lease, funding. I had a big help thanks to the Prince Trust as well.

We did not have so much funding but when you are in the driver seat and you go the opportunity to do something, you find a way to be really crafty about the money that you have. You have to innovate, you have to improvise, you need the ability to be flexible.

Then you found this unit.

I started doing pop-ups. I think they helped me to develop a brand, build a customer base and above all to understand if we have a business model that could work in Glasgow.

We knocked down so many doors asking to do so many collaborations with other companies.

The very first pop-up we did was at the bike station now called Bike for Good and I would never forget how helpful the owner was. Probably he saw himself in the first days of business and wanted to give us a little encouragement. And this was our stepping stone. We did other 2 pop-ups after that and in the meantime we were tirelessly, continuously looking for premises, units but unsuccessfully.

Until we found this one that looked perfect for us as it has already the licence to operate. After some negociacion we had the keys!

And then we came in still not knowing exactly what I was doing- he laughs. I am still on a learning journey trying to figure out what I have to do better, what I need to capitalise on. I am always online reading new things.

I think that if you wait until the point you are ready you will never open.

I have lot of friends, and people I know that want to set up businesses but they're scared to open because they feel they are not ready. You will never have that level of consciousness.

It comes a day you have to bet on yourself. if you do not bet on yourself you will never have the opportunity. also, if you don't bet on your self no one is going to bet on you either.

Originally this was "only" a Take away

We came in here and we set up as a takeaway at the beginning.

We had no money left. I did not realise so many things back then like all the extra costs like lawyer, accountant, deposit, etc. I was so naive.

I was in here painting the outside of the shop and doing whatever I could do to start.

I figured out how to do things, you learn pretty quickly when is a necessity and that is why I am a big supporter of the idea of not waiting for the opportunity to come. Better build it yourself.

When there are no other options, when the only other option is failure, you have no choice!

So we started selling craft beers "to go" and we applied for a sit-in licence and got it a year later.

We ripped out the place, found a lot of original features and set it up as a place where people can also have a nice time.

People appreciate it. They come here for the experience too.

It is good you talked about the experience because I think is the most important aspect, even more than what you sell. I am proud to say we offer a high-quality and large beer range that includes over 300 beers in the fridges. They rotate on a regular basis in a way that there are always from 25 to 45 new beers in the shop to try. When something finishes, something brand new is there to replace it. We are focused in supplying the most local staff, spirits, wines, everything we touch is premium quality.

But the thing that gives me the reason to be here is seeing people happy when they leave our shop. It is something I learnt when I worked in hospitality. My old boss used to say: "people can find a similar product to the one we serve here elsewhere. The reason people come back here is because they love the atmosphere, the environment, the service, the ambience. The product is just a vehicle to give them the experience. People pay for experience, it is what makes them feel good."

My job is to learn my customers, I don t need them to ask questions, they need me to lead them.

So when they come back in here I need to remember what they liked so I can anticipate their needs.

It is how you make someone feel that make them come back.

Lunar, your new Cocktail Bar

Lunar is our cocktail bar in the Southside. A completely different concept in a completely different area. But even if they are polar opposite it is the same experience I want to give. If customers are not leaving with a smile, we fail as a business.

Experience and quality. It is about the music, it is about seeing the glasses of water empty before the customer can see they are empty; it is about going immediately to clean a table if you see something spilled. It is all about the little things.

It is the little things that make the big difference and the reason why people come back.

I call it ghost service. They should not even know you are there and you should be able to offer what they want before they need it.

We ahould be able to read customers mind. They want to be guided into the experience.

And this makes all the difference!